Tag Archives: sex trafficking

Larry Summers Asks Harvard Students For ‘Permission’ To Continue Teaching as Epstein Fallout Widens

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A former president of Harvard University, Larry Summers, continues to suffer fallout from his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, with the prominent economist resigning from yet another corporate board position following the release of email correspondence between the two men. Mr. Summers, who served as Treasury Secretary under the Clinton administration and was President Obama’s director of the National Economic Council, announced on Wednesday his departure from the board of directors at the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company, OpenAI. “In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI,” Mr. Summers stated. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company and look forward to following their progress.” His position at OpenAI is just one of many roles that Mr. Summers has stepped back from in the weeks since the federal government made public more than 20, 000 emails from Epstein’s estate that shed new light on Mr. Summers’ intimate relationship with the convicted sex offender. That includes his role as chairman of the board at the Center for Global Development and his board positions at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Yale’s Budget Lab, and the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project. Mr. Summers was also dropped from the New York Times Opinion section, where he was hired in January 2025 to serve as a contributing writer. The Times’ executive director for media relations stated on Tuesday that the outlet does not intend to renew his contract when it concludes at year-end. The released correspondence showed that Mr. Summers maintained regular contact with Epstein from 2013 through July 2019 years after the financier’s 2008 conviction on charges involving solicitation of prostitution from a minor exchanging messages on topics ranging from personal matters to professional advice. On several occasions Mr. Summers sought romantic counsel from Epstein, including regarding a woman he described as a mentee. “Think for now I’m going nowhere with her except economics mentor,” Mr. Summers wrote in November 2018. “I think I’m right now in the seen very warmly in rear view mirror category.” In one 2018 exchange, Epstein went as far as to refer to himself as Mr. Summers’ “wing man.” Mr. Summers’ was married at the time. The final email between the two was sent just one day before federal authorities arrested Epstein on new sex-trafficking charges in July 2019. Although Mr. Summers shared his plans to retreat from all public commitments, he will continue to teach at Harvard and serve as the director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. This semester Mr. Summers is currently teaching five courses, including two large undergraduate economics classes. Mr. Summers, however, opened a Tuesday economics class by apologizing to his students for his association with Mr. Epstein and asking for the class’s “permission” to “go forward and talk about the material” for the course. “Some of you will have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr. Epstein and I’ve said I’m going to step back from public activities for a while,” Mr. Summers said in a video taken by a Harvard student and posted to social media. “But I think it’s very important that I fulfill my teaching obligations.” Also on Tuesday the chairman of Harvard’s economics department, Elie Tamer, sent an email to students expressing his regret for “the recent items that you have read about our faculty members.” Mr. Tamer, who refrained from directly naming Mr. Summers, apologized to students who “are hurt, angry or simply exhausted by the news” and emphasized the school’s commitment to creating a community where “students can learn, research, and work without fear of favoritism, coercion, or retaliation.” “We have been through a lot this past year and again, to you our students I say: you belong here,” he added. “You deserve advisors who champion your work and a community that chooses integrity. If you need anything-clarity, or simply a human conversation ask. I will show up.” Harvard, meanwhile, announced its decision to open a new investigation into Mr. Summers, who served as president from 2001 to 2006, and his relationship with Epstein. A Harvard spokesman told the Crimson on Tuesday that “the University is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted.” Several other Harvard figures were also featured in the files, including Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, who served on Epstein’s legal team in a 2008 criminal case, and Mr. Summers’ wife, professor Elisa New.
https://www.nysun.com/article/larry-summers-asks-harvard-students-for-permission-to-continue-teaching-as-epstein-fallout-widens

Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre feared she might be killed ‘like Diana’ after sex with Prince Andrew: ex-beau

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Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre feared she might be killed “like Diana” after having sex with Prince Andrew, an ex-boyfriend has revealed.

The “terrified” then-17-year-old Giuffre rang her boyfriend just hours after she was allegedly trafficked to the British royal in London for the first time in March 2001.

“I remember that call clearly. She was terrified. Her voice was shaking the whole time,” Tony Figueroa, 43, told the Sun on Sunday from his home in Atlanta, Georgia. Giuffre, who took her own life in April at age 41, told her former high-school sweetheart that she “didn’t want to” sleep with Andrew but felt she had no choice, he said.

“I was also absolutely terrified something would happen to her. We talked about the death of [Princess] Diana. This man was so powerful, he was literally a prince,” Figueroa said.

Wild, unsubstantiated conspiracy theories were circulating at the time that Prince Harry and William’s mother, Diana, had been murdered in Paris in 1997 on the orders of the royal family.

Figueroa has now called on disgraced Prince Andrew to accept that he played a part in Giuffre’s suicide. “Those were the times she was most scared,” the ex said of Giuffre’s interactions with Andrew.

Andrew, the son of late Queen Elizabeth II, was forced to drop his royal titles earlier this month in the wake of fresh damaging revelations about his relationship with Epstein, a 66-year-old millionaire financier and convicted pedophile who killed himself in jail awaiting sex-trafficking charges.

It was alleged that Andrew’s ties to Epstein continued years after he claimed to have cut himself off from the Wall Street powerhouse. Andrew has always denied any allegations of wrongdoing, and even insisted that the infamous photo of him with his arm around Giuffre at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home could be a fake.

Figueroa poured scorn on Andrew’s claims, saying he was with Giuffre when she collected the print taken on her Kodak FunSaver camera from a one-hour kiosk near their Palm Beach, Florida, home.

“I held the photograph in my hands. She was going through all the pictures, and she showed it to me. It was just in there with the rest,” he said, adding that Andrew’s royal exile was not a serious enough punishment for him.

“So he’s not a duke anymore? Wow, is that it? Where is she at right now? Yeah, that’s not any kind of justice,” Figueroa said. “It’s just slaps on the wrist.”

Figueroa and Giuffre were dating when the teenager began working as a masseuse for Epstein. She said she was then trafficked for sex with powerful men at Epstein’s behest. She detailed the abuse in her memoir, *Nobody’s Girl*, which was released posthumously last week.

Figueroa said he was even taken by Giuffre to meet Epstein at his Palm Beach mansion.

“She introduced us. I was 18 years old, and my perspective was that this guy had everything. I was awestruck. I would get invited to talk to him in his office. He came across just like a normal dude,” he said.

Soon, Figueroa was on Epstein’s payroll himself, bringing girls from his school to the sex offender’s home in return for $200 a victim.

“I have nightmares. I have a son just a couple of years younger than I was when all this happened. He’s just a kid,” he said, adding that Epstein was funding their entire lifestyle.

“I didn’t want to believe anything that would tarnish what I thought of Virginia. Epstein was paying for our car, our apartment. Why would I question that?” he said.

When Giuffre told him the full story of what was happening, Figueroa urged her to leave, but she felt trapped and scared, he said.

Epstein and Maxwell asked Giuffre to carry their child while she and Figueroa were trying for a baby of her own, he said. At one point, Giuffre went to Thailand on Epstein’s orders to train as a masseuse, and for a while, she and Figueroa spoke every day.

“Then one day she stopped answering my calls,” he said, describing the time when Giuffre met her future husband, Robert Giuffre.

“I tried to get in touch with her. I asked someone to pass along a message, but I never heard back,” Figueroa said.

Buckingham Palace did not respond immediately to Post requests for comment. Prince Andrew could not be reached for comment.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/26/us-news/virginia-giuffre-feared-she-might-be-killed-like-diana-after-sex-with-prince-andrew-ex-beau/

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers plan to appeal as convicted hip-hop star faces more years behind bars

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**Sean “Diddy” Combs Sentenced to Over Four Years in Prison for Transporting People Across State Lines for Sexual Encounters**

Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs are planning to appeal after the Grammy-winning artist and music executive was sentenced Friday to more than four years in prison for transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters.

The case shattered Combs’ carefully cultivated reputation as an affable celebrity entrepreneur, A-list party host, and reality TV star. It marked a public reckoning for the 55-year-old hip-hop mogul, who made a plea for leniency and wept as his lawyers played a video portraying his family life, career, and philanthropy.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian also fined Combs $500,000, the maximum allowed by law. Combs was convicted in July of flying his girlfriends and male sex workers around the country to engage in drug-fueled sexual encounters over many years and in multiple places.

The sordid, nearly two-month federal trial in Manhattan featured harrowing testimony from women who said Combs beat, threatened, sexually assaulted, and blackmailed them. However, he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life.

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### How Much Time Will Combs Serve?

Combs was sentenced to four years and two months in prison. Having already served a year in jail, he could be released in about three years. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of more than 11 years.

Combs’ lawyers argued for immediate release, stating the time behind bars has already forced his remorse and sobriety. On the eve of his sentencing, Combs wrote the judge proclaiming himself a changed man after realizing he was “broken to my core.” His legal team has confirmed they will appeal the decision.

There is no possibility of parole in the federal system. Prosecutor Christy Slavik stated that sparing Combs serious prison time would excuse years of violence. Key witnesses against Combs urged the judge to reject leniency, expressing fears for their safety if he were freed.

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### Where Is Combs Serving His Sentence?

Combs was sent to a Brooklyn federal lockup a year ago after his lawyers unsuccessfully fought to keep him out of jail following his arrest. This facility is primarily used for post-arrest detention for individuals awaiting trial in federal courts in Manhattan or Brooklyn, as well as for those serving short sentences.

The lockup has been plagued by problems since its opening in the 1990s, and its conditions have been so poor in recent years that some judges have refused to send people there. Combs’ lawyers were denied his request to await trial under house arrest at his Miami Beach mansion on an island.

It is currently unclear where Combs will serve the remainder of his sentence. Near his home, there is a low-security federal correctional institution in Miami with an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp. The facility houses approximately 1,000 inmates in total.

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### Testimony at Trial

During trial testimony, former girlfriend and R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura recounted to jurors that Combs ordered her to have “disgusting” sexual encounters with strangers hundreds of times during their decade-long relationship. Jurors viewed video footage showing Combs dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multiday event referred to as a “freak-off.”

Another woman, identified as “Jane,” testified that she was pressured into sex with male workers during drug-fueled “hotel nights” while Combs watched and sometimes filmed the encounters.

The Associated Press does not typically name alleged victims of sexual abuse unless they have come forward publicly. Combs’ lawyers argued at trial that the government was trying to criminalize consensual, albeit unconventional, sexual preferences.

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### Federal Law Violated: The Mann Act

Combs was sentenced for violating the federal Mann Act, a century-old anti-prostitution law. The Mann Act prohibits transporting someone across state lines for the purpose of prostitution or other illegal sexual acts.

Amended primarily in the 1980s, the law today is chiefly used to prosecute interstate prostitution crimes or the transportation of underage children across state lines for sexual purposes. Defense attorney Jason Driscoll argued that the law was misapplied in Combs’ case.

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### Combs’ Reputational Decline

Combs’ fall from grace began when Ventura, a key witness in the trial, sued him in 2023, alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. The lawsuit was settled within hours for $20 million, an amount Ventura publicly disclosed for the first time during the trial.

Since then, dozens of others have made similar legal claims against Combs. The federal sex trafficking investigation was publicly revealed on the day of a bicoastal raid on Combs’ properties, elevating the seriousness and public awareness of the allegations.

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### How the Case Played in Popular Culture

The seizure of 1,000 bottles of baby oil and other lubricants by federal agents during the raid quickly became a cultural talking point. The case transformed Combs into a punchline in addition to a villain.

Talk shows, “Saturday Night Live,” and social media users have joked about the so-called “freak-offs” and the vast quantities of baby oil allegedly used during Combs’ sex marathons. Fellow celebrities with past associations to Combs were called out, though none have been implicated in the criminal allegations.

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https://www.phillytrib.com/news/sean-diddy-combs-lawyers-plan-to-appeal-as-convicted-hip-hop-star-faces-more-years/article_4c992b72-bce3-4aa1-941e-691650e9324a.html

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers plan to appeal as convicted hip-hop star faces more years behind bars

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**Sean “Diddy” Combs Sentenced to Over Four Years in Prison for Transporting People Across State Lines for Sexual Encounters**

Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs are planning to appeal following the Grammy-winning artist and music executive’s sentencing on Friday to more than four years in prison. Combs was convicted of transporting people across state lines for sexual encounters, a case that has shattered his carefully cultivated reputation as an affable celebrity entrepreneur, A-list party host, and reality TV star.

The sentencing culminated a public reckoning for the 55-year-old hip-hop icon, who made a plea for leniency and wept as his lawyers played a video highlighting his family life, career, and philanthropy. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian also imposed a $500,000 fine, the maximum allowed under the law.

—

### Conviction and Sentencing Details

Combs was convicted in July of flying girlfriends and male sex workers around the country to engage in drug-fueled sexual encounters over many years and multiple locations. The nearly two-month federal trial in Manhattan featured harrowing testimony from women who accused Combs of beating, threatening, sexually assaulting, and blackmailing them. However, Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges, which could have resulted in a life sentence.

He was sentenced to four years and two months in prison. Having already served one year in jail, he could be released in about three years. Prosecutors had sought a sentence exceeding 11 years, while Combs’ lawyers argued for immediate release, stating that the time served has already led to his remorse and commitment to sobriety.

On the eve of his sentencing, Combs wrote the judge, describing himself as a “new man” after realizing he was “broken to my core.” His legal team has announced plans to appeal the sentence.

There is no possibility of parole in the federal system.

—

### Prosecutors and Key Witnesses Oppose Leniency

Prosecutor Christy Slavik emphasized that sparing Combs serious prison time would effectively excuse years of violence. Key witnesses also urged the judge to reject leniency, expressing fears for their safety should Combs be freed.

—

### Where Is Combs Serving His Sentence?

Since his arrest a year ago, Combs has been held in a federal lockup in Brooklyn. His lawyers’ requests to keep him under house arrest at his Miami Beach mansion were denied. The Brooklyn facility, primarily used for post-arrest detention and short sentences, has faced criticism for poor conditions.

It remains unclear where Combs will serve the remainder of his sentence, but there is a low-security federal correctional institution near his Miami home, including an adjacent minimum security satellite camp. According to its website, the facility houses about 1,000 inmates.

—

### Key Trial Testimonies

During the trial, former girlfriend and R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura testified that Combs compelled her to have “disgusting” sex with strangers hundreds of times during their decade-long relationship. Jurors viewed video footage of Combs dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one such multi-day encounter.

Another woman, identified as “Jane,” testified that Combs pressured her into sex with male workers during drug-fueled “hotel nights,” which he sometimes filmed. The Associated Press does not typically name sexual abuse victims unless they come forward publicly.

Combs’ lawyers argued that the government was attempting to criminalize consensual—but unconventional—sexual preferences.

—

### The Federal Law Involved: The Mann Act

Combs was sentenced for violating the federal Mann Act, an anti-prostitution law with a century-old history. The Mann Act prohibits the transportation of individuals across state lines for prostitution or other illegal sexual acts. While amended in the 1980s, it is primarily used to prosecute interstate prostitution crimes or cases involving the transportation of minors for sexual purposes.

Defense attorney Jason Driscoll contended that the law was misapplied in Combs’ case.

—

### Diddy’s Reputational Downfall

Combs’ public downfall began in 2023 when Ventura, a key trial witness, sued him, alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. The two settled within hours for $20 million—a sum Ventura revealed publicly for the first time during the trial. Since then, dozens of others have come forward with similar allegations.

The federal sex trafficking investigation was publicly revealed during a coordinated raid on Combs’ homes across the country, escalating the case to intense public scrutiny.

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### Cultural Impact of the Case

The raid’s seizure of 1,000 bottles of baby oil and other lubricants quickly became a cultural talking point, turning Combs into both a villain and a punchline. Talk shows, “Saturday Night Live,” and social media widely joked about the “freak-offs” and the vast quantities of baby oil allegedly used during the sex marathons.

While fellow celebrities associated with Combs faced public scrutiny, no others have been implicated in the criminal allegations.

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*Please note: We encourage respectful and truthful discussion. Avoid obscene, vulgar, or discriminatory language. Threats or harassment will not be tolerated. Use the ‘Report’ link to notify us of any abusive posts. We welcome eyewitness accounts and information related to our articles.*
https://www.phillytrib.com/news/sean-diddy-combs-lawyers-plan-to-appeal-as-convicted-hip-hop-star-faces-more-years/article_4c992b72-bce3-4aa1-941e-691650e9324a.html